Author: Natalie Goodwin

Natalie Goodwin is the Portfolio Manager within the Digital Workplace Practice at Logicalis UK.

With more than 9 years of experience in a number of specialist roles focusing on collaborative environments and Workspace optimisation, Natalie has been influential in defining the Logicalis Optimal Video as a service model.

Natalie is responsible to ensure the continued relevance of the DWP Solutions in terms of market, vendors, sales, operational performance and overall sustainability.
In her free time Natalie enjoys undertaking home improvement projects.

Digital Workplace is not a one size fits all approach

“Workplace of the Future’’, “Digital Workplace” and ‘‘Future Digital Employee Experience” are definitely the latest buzz phrases in the HR world! Today we work anywhere at almost any time. We work in cafeterias, airport waiting areas, cars, with mobile devices, desktops, laptops, tablets, and the list goes on.

Delivering a great digital workplace in today’s business environment is tricky and one of the most important things a business can achieve – not to add the support of simultaneous communication across different devices and regardless of geo location.

Nonetheless, not many businesses have identified the appropriate tools and processes to create an effective and user-friendly modern workplace. If one takes into consideration the diverse and geographically scattered organisations, it is easy to understand why businesses should have a tailored approach, focusing on retaining talent, ensuring employee wellbeing and engagement, which are all greatly supported by the collaboration tools employees are given.

Digital Workplace in 2018 is all about Engagement, Experience, and Empowerment

• Increasing Employee Engagement
Engagement means all employees can feel connected and part of the same team, no matter where they are located.

Engaged employees can increase a company’s performance by up to 202%
(Article by -Engage for success, the importance of employee engagement, Aug 2016).

With advances in technology, from software defined WAN to tailored applications, co-workers are able to stay in constant communication and feel a part of the team, whenever they are based. The easy to use, natural interfaces of UC application tools today allow employers to maximise adoption and bring measurable engagement through the built-in analytics capabilities.

• Elevating Employee Experience
Gen X, Gen Y and now Gen Z talent represents a massive shift towards a more collaborative, connected and faster paced workplace, in which self-expression is encouraged, and autonomy, recognition and global awareness are core terms of employment.

The changing dynamic of a digital savvy workforce means organisations must address and tap into analytics and consider harnessing ‘as a service’ delivery models to raise the bar on talent acquisition, as well as to offer employees a productive, engaging and enjoyable work experience.

A recent study Deloitte completed with Facebook found that only 14 percent of companies believe their internal processes for collaboration and decision making are working well, and 77 percent believe email is no longer a viable tool for effective communication.

A great example of this is organisations starting to redesign their recruitment experience to resemble the consumer experience on e-commerce and social media platforms. They have examined how people search for common items, such as cars, music or major purchase and are now looking to weave that into their online recruitment campaign.

• Digital Workspace Employee Empowerment
Employees feel trusted when they are given the power to work when and where they want. When non-desk workers feel included and part of the team, they’re more productive. Every business wants empowered employees, because they have been shown to be more satisfied in their roles, and thus more productive. Investing in your business’s digital workspace and enhancing your employees work experience is one way to make that happen.

Most organisations today are likely to have a ‘digital workspace’ of some sort, and it will only grow in the years to come. Competitive advantage increasingly comes from providing the right set of collaborative tools letting employees use technology in the way they want to and a business culture that puts people first.

Exclusive roundtable: The Future of Work in 2018
Join us and Fuze on March 21st at the Sky Garden for an exclusive roundtable dinner to discuss the future of work in 2018. In this session we will look into how employees’ demands create a complex environment for IT leaders, but on the same time are an opportunity to drive innovation and bolster productivity.

In particular, we will go through:
– The role of technology as the enabler of the future of work
– How to increase user adoption as well as workforce mobility and productivity
– How to reduce application sprawl and shadow IT

So bring your questions to the table and let’s see how we can help you get ahead of the changing working landscape.